KEM hospital is a shelter for dogs and an eatery for cats and rats. In the meantime, monkey made a new entry here. There were many reports of rats nibbling patients, cats stealing milk and dogs sleeping in the general ward of the hospital and there is no mechanism to control such annoyance. Monkey menace at KEM Hospital had created anxiety since they found a monkey attacking patients, visitors and staff, taking away their bags. The forest department traps and takes the monkey out of the hospital.
KEM staff said there were three cases of monkey bites within the premises. Those bitten or scratched now have to take the anti-rabies vaccine. While we often saw dogs, cats and mice on hospital premises. For some, it was entertaining to see the monkey, but some others had a terrible experience.
Raju Bansare, the relative of a patient, said, “I came from Nanded for my brother’s treatment and have been staying here for a month. For the past 4 to 5 days, a monkey has been coming inside the corridor looking for food. It also went through the bags and threw things around. It even attacked a woman in front of us. Some people are feeding it while others are scared.” Bansare said the monkey is generally seen around 10 to 11 am and then again around 8 to 9 pm.
Sangeeta Ravat, Dean of the College, informs Afternoon Voice, “Forest Department officer Abhijeet Patil is coordinating with KEM security to catch the monkey. We cannot catch the monkey since monkeys are quick animals and tranquillizers are avoided in animals’ interests. We kept 3 cages on campus at places frequented by monkeys. Stray incidence of minor monkey bite is there, typically due to the patient’s relatives trying to feed it.”
Abhijeet Patil from the Forest Department told the Afternoon Voice, “We caught the monkey on Sunday morning. Now we are going to send it to our medical centre in Kalyan and will do a medical checkup. If it has any injuries, we are going to treat it. If they find the monkey fit to survive in the jungle, the authorities will decide in which forest to leave the monkey.”
A family member of Patience said, “Animals are living beings like us. I have seen dogs, cats and monkeys on the hospital premises. I feed them because they crave food like us. We humans should do some charity by feeding these strays as they have no place to go. By doing this we shall add to our good karma.”
Another patient’s family member told the Afternoon Voice, “We have problems with cats and rats around; they are not good in regards to hygiene. Moreover, patients cannot be comfortable if these stray animals wander around hospital beds.”
